Tag: business

  • Banks to remain closed for public dealing on 4 April

    The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and all other banks will be closed for public business on Monday, 4 April, to observe a ‘Bank Holiday’ for Zakat deduction.

    Development Finance Institutions (DFIs), Microfinance banks (MFBs), and all other banks will be closed to the public on Monday.

    On the Bank Holiday, which will be observed as a working day, all of these institutions’ employees will carry out their official tasks except client dealing, in-office, or through work-from-home (WFH), as per the official instructions.

    According to the central bank’s announcement, it will be closed for public trading on Monday, “which shall be observed as Bank Holiday for the purpose of Zakat deduction”.

    “However, all staff of banks, DFIs, and MFBs will report to work on Bank Holiday as a normal working day (except for public trading),” the statement continued.

  • Pak-China trade to resume through Khunjerab pass after 2-year hiatus

    A lucrative trade route connecting Pakistan and China, the Khunjerab Pass will finally reopen for trade activities on April 1, 2022 after more than a 2-year hiatus. The pass was closed in November 2019 as a preventive measure against the spread of COVID-19.

    As per a credible resource, Chinese authorities sent Pakistan a letter requesting the reopening of the border, in reference to the agreement made in May 2013 between the neighboring countries.

    Port authorities on the Chinese side have been advised to take all preventive measures related to the COVID-19 outbreak.

    Likewise, the Pakistani border authorities have also been instructed to take all necessary precautions to prevent the spread of coronavirus spread.

    The Khunjerab Pass was temporarily opened for less than two weeks from July 29, 2020 to August 10, 2020 to allow the passage of stranded containers filled with goods. The prolonged closure of Khunjerab Pass had caused severe financial hardships to the local business community.

  • A thori sasti SUV? Chery Tiggo 8 Pro to launch within a week in Pakistan

    Ghandhara Nissan Limited (GNL) is officially launching the Chery Tiggo 8 Pro SUV in Pakistan within a week. The company has been teasing the SUV for almost a year now. Finally, it seems like the long-delayed SUV will be seen on Pakistani roads in the coming months.

    As per a report, GNL may start bookings for Tiggo 8 Pro as soon as 26 March 2022. The company may only debut the vehicle in a digital event for now, as its official launch event is expected after Ramadan.

    The automaker has not disclosed any in-depth details regarding the price of the upcoming SUV, however, it is expected to be priced between Rs. 6 million to Rs. 7 million.

    Chery Tiggo 8 Pro is a 7-seater, Chinese crossover SUV that will compete with Kia Sorento as well as the Changan Oshan X7. It will have a turbocharged 1.6-liter 4-cylinder petrol engine which produces 195 horsepower with 290 Newton-meters of torque.

    It can be a huge success in the Pakistani market if it gets a price tag of below Rs. 6.3 million, considering the hefty price tags on sedans in the Pakistani auto market.

  • Crypto companies at risk of closure in the United Kingdom

    A number of cryptocurrency businesses in the United Kingdom (UK) may be forced to shut down if they fail to register with the financial watchdog before a major deadline next week.

    Firms providing crypto services in the UK must register with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) by 31 March, 2022. The FCA is in charge of supervising how digital asset firms tackle money laundering.

    In 2021, the authority stretched the deadline for businesses on a temporary register to continue trading while seeking full license. Once the deadline passes, the temporary register will be closed.

    Many crypto businesses have withdrew their applications, according to the FCA, since they did not match the required anti-money laundering criteria.

    With only days until the deadline, the status of companies on the temporary register including Revolut, a $33 billion fintech business, and Copper, a crypto start-up is in trouble which counts on UK Finance Minister, Philip Hammond as its advisor.  

    Read More: Pakistan decides to make cryptocurrency illegal

    Some businesses are now withdrawing their applications, including B2C2, a London-based crypto trading firm, just removed itself from the FCA’s provisional registry.

    B2C2’s spot trading activity has been relocated to the company’s U.S. Entity from this week. The firm’s business is now unaffected as it is handled by an FCA-authorized subsidiary.

  • Mark Zuckerberg loses $6 billion in hours after Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp outage

    Mark Zuckerberg loses $6 billion in hours after Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp outage

    Mark Zuckerberg’s personal wealth has fallen by more than $6 billion (roughly Rs44,790 cores) in a few hours, knocking him down a notch on the list of the world’s richest people, after a whistle blower came forward and outages took Facebook’s flagship products offline.

    As per details, a selloff sent the social-media giant’s stock crashing 4.9 per cent on Monday, adding to a drop of about 15 per cent since mid-September.

    Read More – Social media flooded with memes after WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram outage

    The stock slide on Monday sent Zuckerberg’s worth down to $121.6 billion (roughly Rs9,06,050 crores), dropping him below Bill Gates to number five on the  Bloomberg Billionaires Index. He’s down from almost $140 billion (roughly Rs10,43,150 crores) in a matter of weeks, according to the index.

    On Monday, a technical problem related to Facebook’s DNS records generated at least six hours of outages.

  • Airlift raises $85 million in Pakistan for online delivery service

    Airlift raises $85 million in Pakistan for online delivery service

    As Pakistan joins a regional startup financing boom, Airlift Technologies Pvt. has raised the biggest single private investment round in the country’s history, ahead of plans to enter international markets.

    As per details, with involvement from former Y Combinator president Sam Altman, the Lahore-based online retail delivery company received $85 million in Series B funding headed by Harry Stebbings of 20VC and Josh Buckley of Buckley Ventures Ltd. According to a data tracker from venture capitalist firm Invest2Innovate, it would be the largest-ever investment for a Pakistani company.

    Pakistan is “in the very early stages, but the transformation is happening very, very quickly and we are seeing a shift in behavior,” Airlift co-founder Usman Gul said in an interview. “We have a lot of people who previously didn’t shop online.”

    The investment in Pakistan, a country with a population of more than 200 million people and a nascent digital sector, parallels a surge of investment over the border in India.

    According to Invest2Innovate statistics, Pakistani entrepreneurs, most of which are focused on e-commerce, raised a record $101 million in the first half of this year, compared to $66 million in all of 2020. That still pales in comparison to its neighbor, where technology companies made a record $6.3 billion in the second quarter.

    The investment comes after Airlift switched to e-commerce with 30-minute shipping in September after the epidemic forced them to abandon their primary business of providing air-conditioned bus trips. It joins a very competitive market across the globe, where supermarkets and e-commerce companies like Dunzo, Gorillas, Getir, and GoPuff compete for fast deliveries in congested areas ranging from Delhi to New York and London.

    The total money raised by Pakistani startups in the first half of the year is equal to the amount raised by Airlift. According to statistics collected by Bloomberg, it also surpasses the biggest initial public offering by the private sector in the United States.

    It now intends to expand to 15 Pakistani cities by the end of the year, up from the existing eight. It’s also on a recruiting frenzy, with ambitions to increase its core staff to 400 people by the end of next year, according to Gul. In approximately three months, the firm plans to join a growing market abroad.

    “Very quickly we realised that the distribution of consumer goods was quite broken,” he said. “I ordered groceries and had to wait six hours to get that delivery. So we wanted to change that.”

  • Pakistan economic security on the rise, ranks top 10 in business environment

    Pakistan economic security on the rise, ranks top 10 in business environment

    Pakistan has reformed to simplify initiating a company and obtaining a construction permit, applying a series of preferential policies in the latest years, says the Annual Report on Investment Security of China’s Belt and Road Construction (2021), jointly released by China Belt and Road Think Tank Cooperation Alliance, Beijing International Studies University, and other institutions.

    The report puts forward the results of researches on the political, economic, social, cultural, and ecological investment security in countries along the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

    According to the report, these steps upgraded Pakistan’s ability to attract foreign investment and strengthened the ease of doing business year by year, making Pakistan one of the world’s top 10 economies with the most improved business environment, China Economic Net (CEN) reported.

    In terms of political security, the report stated that South Asia as a whole is greatly affected by the superpower game.

    China, the United States, Russia, Japan, and other countries outside the region have historical ties and practical cooperation here, which makes the geopolitical environment of South Asia complicated.

    The conflict between India and Pakistan has also increased pressure on political security in the region, under which the dispute over Kashmir poses a long-standing risk of war.

    From the perspective of economic security, Pakistan’s economic security scored up by 220% in 2019 compared to 2010, showing an overall trend of growth.

    The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) construction has greatly boosted public confidence, stimulated domestic demand, and driven production.

    However, it is worth noting that since 2019, the accelerated marketisation of the domestic exchange rate in Pakistan has led to market fluctuations, currency devaluation, sustained inflation, forcing the government to raise the benchmark interest rate. Besides, the debt burden increased and the international sovereign rating lowered.

  • NCOC recommends indoor dining at 50 per cent occupancy for vaccinated individuals only

    NCOC recommends indoor dining at 50 per cent occupancy for vaccinated individuals only

    The National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC) said Monday it has allowed restaurants to operate at 50 per cent indoor capacity only for vaccinated individuals.

    These decisions will be implemented from July 1-31, with a review on July 27.

    Markets and business activities will continue till 10pm. However, essential services — petrol pumps, pharmacies, medical facilities, vaccination centre, milk shops, tandoors, and takeaways — are allowed to operate 24/7.

    Restaurant and hotel management would institute a mechanism for checking the vaccination certificates of guests and will also ensure vaccination of respective management and staff, the NCOC said, adding that takeaways will be allowed 24/7.

    400 people have been allowed to attend outdoor marriages, while indoor marriages have been permitted for only vaccinated individuals, with a cap of 200 people.

    Cinemas are allowed to re-open with strict Covid protocols for vaccinated individuals only till 1am.

    Cinemas’ management will institute a mechanism for checking vaccination certificates of visitors and will also ensure vaccination of respective management and staff.

    Shrines are allowed to re-open at the discretion of federating units, while adherence to strict Covid SOPs.

    Continuation of normal working hours for public and private offices with 100 per cent attendance.

    Public transport is allowed to operate with 70 per cent occupancy with strict Covid SOPs. Railway services are allowed to operate with 70 per cent occupancy.

  • Man sets textile shop on fire over unpaid salary

    Man sets textile shop on fire over unpaid salary

    A Dubai salesman has been sentenced to two years in prison for setting a textile shop on fire, causing losses of nearly Dh1 million to the owner.

    As per reports, the 27-year-old salesman from Afghanistan was fined Dh985,000 fine. He will be expelled after he has served his sentence.

    He reportedly wanted to take revenge from the owner, who did not pay his salary for a year. In December last year, the defendant went to the shop and unlocked the shop using a cutter. He accused the owner didn’t pay his salary for one year. He expected to find some cash inside the shop, but couldn’t find any.

    The suspect told Dubai Police that he found a lighter inside the shop and decided to set the textile shop on fire in vengeance.

    Read More: Flight returns after bat seen flying in business class cabin

    The shop’s owner testified that he checked the CCTV footage in the area and saw the defendant braking into the shop. “I was alerted about the fire and discovered that the defendant was responsible. He damaged the lock and the glass door before setting the shop on fire,” the 40-year-old Pakistani owner said.

    Dubai Public Prosecution charged the defendant with setting fire to a property and causing damages worth Dh985,000. The verdict will be subject to appeal within 15 days.

  • Govt says no plans to privatise anything PIA

    Govt says no plans to privatise anything PIA

    The National Assembly (NA) was informed on Friday that there is no plan to privatise any of the assets of national flag carrier Pakistan International Airlines (PIA).
    Minister for Aviation Ghulam Sarwar Khan said this during the question hour while speaking at the floor of the House, which met with Speaker Asad Qaiser in the chair.

    Sarwar said that the present government is very keen to make the national flag carrier self-reliant and profitable entity. Efforts are underway to improve the financial health of the airline by reducing its losses through various means, he said. He also said that loss-making routes have been closed and flights on profitable routes have been added which has resulted in reduction of losses.

    Responding to a question, the aviation minister said that 82 pilots were dismissed for acquiring the licences through unfair means. He said that a transparent mechanism has now been evolved to ensure the issuance of licenses in a transparent manner. An agreement to this effect has also been signed with the UK Civil Aviation Authority, he added.

    He maintained that the International Civil Aviation Authority (ICAA) will carry out an audit of Pakistan’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) in July this year. He was confident this will lead to removal of travel restrictions on the PIA in the European countries and that the airline will regain its past glory.

    He said that the European Union (EU) aviation safety watchdog had previously decided to retain its ban on PIA from operating in EU member states, expressing its dissatisfaction over the steps taken by the CAA to address licensing and safety concerns. However, recently in March, the EU’s aviation safety watchdog termed safety standards of Pakistan’s CAA as “satisfactory”.

    The decision was made following a two-day meeting of the EU’s Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and CAA officials, in which representatives from Denmark, Italy and Sweden participated via video-link, he said.
    The minister for aviation said that Quetta and Dera Ismail Khan airports will be upgraded and that eight new planes will be inducted in the fleet of PIA to further improve its performance.

    Taking the floor, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan said that Prime Minister Imran Khan has taken the initiative of ‘Live Call Programme’ to directly connect with the people and listen to their problems. He said that this step of the prime minister should be appreciated. He further said that the premier is expected to again interact with the people via telephone next week.

    The House was later adjourned to meet again at 4:00 pm on Monday.